


Light & Darkness

by Ivy_of_Arcana



Series: Light and Darkness, and continued [1]
Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series)
Genre: Angel & Demon Interactions, Angel!Ryan, Demon!Shane, M/M, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-28
Updated: 2018-06-02
Packaged: 2019-04-13 21:27:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 15,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14121183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ivy_of_Arcana/pseuds/Ivy_of_Arcana
Summary: Shane Madej is a demon who just wants to have a good time. Ryan Bergara is an angel whose job is to hunt demons. Neither of them know the other's identity...yet. Friendship, a few implied romantic feelings. Warning: Excessive adult language and descriptions of torture.





	1. Chapter 1

“C’om, Ryan, you’ve got to do better.”

  
Ryan Bergara sat uncomfortably across from Jen Ruggirello at one of small side offices at Buzzfeed Los Angeles. He had known this talk was coming, but he was still immensely anxious. Ryan looked down sheepishly, avoiding eye contact with his superior.

  
“I’m doing my best.”

  
Jen sighed. She herself was uncomfortable having to chastise Ryan. He was indeed doing his best, but –

  
“I and the others thought your time with Unsolved would allow us to track down and eliminate more of the enemy. But you’ve been successful only a handful of times. When you were given this assignment, I took a chance with you, but your efforts so far have been… disappointing.”

  
“I know.”

  
Jen sighed again. “I like you, and I know you like spending time with the humans. I don’t want to reassign you, but I will if your work doesn’t improve.”

  
Ryan looked up suddenly, hopeful. “I’m not being reassigned now?”

“Not now. But this is your warning. You’ve better spend this next season efficiently.”

  
“Absolutely. I will, boss.” Ryan stood up. “May I leave? I’ve got work to do.”

  
Jen let a small smile escape. She nodded.

  
Heart full of refound hope, Ryan Bergara, angel of the seventeenth earthly defense collective, walked out of the office.

* * *

Shane Madej was having a delightful day.

  
Contrary to popular opinion, demons could find delight in non-evil human things. Today it was the free exotic coffee samples the Buzzfeed crew got to try for a small video. Shane accidently had slept in that morning and had no time to make his own daily java. It had therefore been a nice little surprise when the first video that he had to shoot that day had involved caffeine.

  
As he exited the shoot, he was feeling decently refreshed by the extra sleep and the unexpected coffee. And when Ryan waved down the hall at him, beckoning him to talk, Shane waved back, grinning widely.

  
“What’s up, man?” Shane cheerfully asked as he approached Ryan. “Got new ideas for the upcoming season yet?”

  
“Yup. I’ve been thinking. You know my rule about having only one demon episode per season? I’m thinking…maybe change that?”

  
Shane’s eyes widened as he grinned. “You, Ryan Bergara, want to hunt down more demons? Whatcha trying to do, prove your manhood?”

  
“Fucking shut up, Shane. I’m trying to overcome my fear, okay? Don’t be such an asshat.”

  
Shane shrugged. “Fine, fine. I’m down for the idea, though. Sounds legit.”

  
“Okay. Just wanted you to know. I’m gonna start researching and seeing if there are any good locations. Will let you know more later.”

  
Shane nodded and walked away.

  
Yes, Shane did like the idea. He’d been wanting Ryan to suggest this for a while. He’d been using Unsolved for a while to dick around on a few other demons’ territories, and it usually went decently well for him. In fact, he’d acquired a few territories in his time doing Unsolved, which had advanced his power significantly. Of course, this wasn’t a huge deal considering that demon species were anarchist and lacked an organized hierarchy, but the extra power was a nice shield against any pesky demon hunters. It was also nice to help in fending off some of the angels that he knew would kill him if they got the chance. That was the downside of living on the surface. Most demons just chilled below, not caring enough to bother with the human race, who they ultimately saw as stupid. The ones that did come to the surface either were hoping to wreak havoc on the humans or were just curious in general. Shane Madej was the later. He was even dating a human female at the moment, which he quite enjoyed.

  
However, some of the jerkass angels couldn’t deal with the idea that demons were among their precious humans and mobilized to take them out.

  
Shane sighed. He was tired of hiding from the angels. He just wanted to harmlessly fuck around a bit, but no.

  
Aw, whatever. He wasn’t going to let that ruin his day. He grinned as he thought of messing around with Ryan Bergara this next season.

  
This was going to be fun.

* * *

 

“Hey there, internet! We’re here on the site of a grisly murder. We’re filming for the first episode of the new Unsolved Supernatural season, so look for it when it comes out! There’s decapitation involved, and a hellish possession!” Ryan pointed his phone camera towards Shane. “Wave for your foolish fans, Shane!”

Shane waved his hand casually and then looked away, distracted.

Ryan pushed the ‘stop recording’ button on his phone. “Gimme a sec. Gonna upload this to Instagram.”

It took Ryan a few minutes to upload the video before turning towards Shane. “Ready, big guy?”

“I was born ready!”

Ryan wheezed. “Uh huh. Sure.” He turned towards the small camera crew standing a few feet away. “We start filming at 9, right?”

Someone from the crew gave a thumbs up.

“Shane, wanna grab breakfast? We’ve got two hours. I’m starving.”

“I…” Shane looked towards the haunted house that they would be filming in soon. “Actually, I was thinking of checking it out myself beforehand. Besides, you’re just gonna grab McDonald’s, and that shit is terrible.”

Ryan frowned. “Don’t you dare hate on Mickey D’s.”

“I can and I will.”

“Whatever, dude. I’ll be back in time to shoot. I don’t care if you starve.” With that, Ryan walked towards the van they had arrived in and drove off.

Shane sighed. He glanced over at the camera crew, whom he knew would spend the time getting some of the cameras up and the angles right. However, Shane was certain that there would be some rooms unoccupied, which he needed. He had someone he needed to contact.

* * *

 

“Yo, Eugene! Whose territory is this?”

At the moment, Shane Madej was standing behind the house. He would enter soon, but he wanted to get some things cleared up beforehand.

“What the fuck, Madej! Why didn’t you ask before now? Or just ask the occupant?” The dark-haired man on Shane’s phone was agitated, and admittedly, rightfully so. It was dangerous to attempt phone communication with other demons because the humans liked to listen in on everything, but Shane was not known for following rules.

“Aw, Eugene. I couldn’t call earlier with Ryan around. Besides, maybe I just wanted to see your pretty face.”

“Fuck off, Madej. You know I hate Facetime.”

“Yup.”

Eugene growled. “You’re in Utah, right? Santaquin?”

“Yup.”

“That’s Petre’s territory. The dude is really quiet, doesn’t come out much. Been able to survive decently well due to that. The angels just think his haunting is a human hoax, as do many of the humans. So he doesn’t get challenged much.”

“Well, I’m here now.”

Eugene shook his head. “You’re an idiot. You’re gaining enough territory to attract some attention from both sides.” He paused. “If you try to challenge my territory, I will end you.”

Shane laughed. “I’m not that stupid. We’re friends. I’m not gonna fuck with your ‘Try Guys.’”

“You only consider me a friend cuz I work the crossroads and know everyone. And you’re only my friend because of that one time with the angel.”

“Ha! Yeah, I saved your sorry ass.”

“Shut up. Oh, tell your little boy toy hi for me.” The call ended abruptly.

Shane shook his head as Eugene’s face vanished from the screen. Boy toy, huh.

Still shaking his head, he entered the house.

 


	2. Chapter 2

“I know you’re there, Petre!” Shane had thankfully found an unoccupied room in the house, a tiny child’s bedroom on the second floor. The crew had already placed a few cameras in there, but they weren’t recording at the moment. “I can sense you. And your aura is dusty, man.”

The rafters over Shane’s head creaked, eliciting a sigh from Shane. “Really? Trying to scare me?”

“No, not at all.”

Shane turned around to meet the speaker, who turned out to be an older, small man. He looked around fifty or sixty years old, and his overall appearance was just like his aura – dusty. “I’ve heard of you. Madej. The one with a death wish in Los Angeles.”

Shane grinned. He took pride in living in Los Angeles, which was, rather true to its name, the city of angels. Shane was well aware that one of the angel earthy defense collectives made its headquarters there, which obviously made living in the city much more dangerous for a demon. Having been able to live so long under the watch of the angels was impressive, and Shane used the fact to strike fear into those he decided to challenge.

However, he wasn’t that desperate to challenge today.

“Look Petre, I don’t want trouble. I need to ask something simple of you.”

Petre spat on the ground. “Like I actually believe that.”

“Look, I’ve got a camera crew for this human supernatural show. We’re just gonna peek around a bit, spend one short night, and then be on our way. All I need you to do is make a few doors open spontaneously, maybe a few random lights come on, shit like that. Nothing much. Obviously you won’t have to show yourself.”

“You’re invading my space. Why should I do anything you ask?”

Shane shrugged. “Look, Petre, I don’t want to have to challenge. But I will if I have to.”

“You’d lose, Madej.”

“Maybe by myself, sure. But remember, I’ve got a camera crew.”

Petre stared at Shane for a moment. “What? Why do you think….oh.”

Shane grinned. “You see?”

Petre had indeed seen. One of the wonderful parts about being a demon was that each one had its own special…ability. Shane’s was rather simple. Whereas all demons had the ability to cloak themselves at will, to hide from prying human eyes, Shane had the ability to decloak another demon against their will. If done at the right time, a demon could be unwittingly be captured on camera.

And being captured on camera was one of the worse fates for a demon in hiding. As irritating as angels were, they were smart enough to monitor the human news and pick out any prey that had unfortunately surfaced there. And Shane knew Petre wouldn’t want to leave his house, and besides, even if he did, he’d have less power outside of his territory. The scheme had always worked so well in the past for a reason. A demon outside its territory was weakened and exposed to angels. It just worked out better for a demon to let Shane do his thing and stay safe in their safe confines.

“I…” Petre stumbled across his words, “I…I’ll just kill the crew.”

“My dear,” Shane grinned mercilessly, “That would still attract the angels. A killing in an alleged haunted site? You might as well mail yourself to the angels now.”

There was silence for a very long minute, and then Petre growled.

“Fine. I don’t want those fuckers here. I’ve spent too much time successfully avoiding them to…” Another growl. “I’ll let you and the humans pass through.”

Shane smiled widely. “Perfect! Oh, another thing. Make sure to focus any efforts on the human I’ll have next to me. I’ll be calling him Ryan. Smaller, tan. He’ll be shaking, most likely.”

Petre narrowed his eyes. “You’re the type that gets off on watching humans squirm, aren’t you?”

“Naw. Just gotta sell the show, ya know?”

“Yeah, right. Want me to mark him up too? Few scratches here or there?”

“No.” The answer came out way too fast, and Shane knew it. Damnit. He mentally recoiled at his quick reaction and the feeling that had spurned it. What was that feeling?

“Ah, possessive, I see.”

Right, possessive. That’s what he was. That would make sense. Perfect sense.

“Anyway, I’ll be back with the crew in a few. Best behavior, or you know what happens.” With that, Shane exited the room and went out to meet the camera crew.

* * *

 

Ryan Bergara was not having a good time.

He was sitting at a small McDonald’s table, warily spending the time trying to finish his breakfast. He hoped he wasn’t freaking any small children out, because he was currently staring blankly at the wall, attempting to sort his thoughts out.

He absolutely had to be successful in his hunts. He knew that a few more failures would result in him getting kicked out of the collective and sent to do some other job, and he didn’t want another job. Still, there was a significant roadblock to him being successful.

He was very, very afraid.

It wasn’t that his fear was stupid. It was very well founded, actually. At a young age, he’d watched his parents perish at the hands of a demon. They too had been members of the same collective, and Ryan could remember how one would be gone for long periods of time, only for them to come back home and the other leave. And then, one day they paid the price for their hard work in blood, and both were gone. Ryan had escaped by hiding in a closet, waiting until the other members of the collective came to clean up the scene and find him. After a bit of searching, Ryan had been sent to live with a human family who had their memories ‘scrambled a bit’ to convince him that he was their biological son.

Ryan had managed to live fine like this. His new parents were religious, which had been a selective choice of the angels, and they had taught him of their beliefs of heaven, hell, the afterlife. Ryan had believed their interpretation, and when the collective decided that Ryan needed to visit heaven, he happily went. He had been born on earth and had never been to the motherland. And he definitely thought he would finally see his deceased parents.

It didn’t work out like that.

Heaven, Hell…they were real, very real. But they weren’t the afterlife. There wasn’t any afterlife. When angels, humans, and demons perished…they were gone. The three realms were the birthplace of the intelligent species, not their ending places.

Ryan had never been the same after that. Death was permanent. And he didn’t want to die, especially not the way his parents did.

Ryan shook the miserable thoughts from his head and glanced at his phone for the time. It was time to leave. Groaning, he hauled himself up and tried to push the fear from his mind as he left.

* * *

 

The day went as it usually did when filming the show. Shane and Ryan did a quick introduction of the site and its history while making quips at each other, and then both toured the house while poking around with EMF detectors and audio recorders. As per long held tradition, Ryan spent the majority of the time shaking and jumping at any unannounced movement while Shane made fun of him. “Demons aren’t real!’ Shane laughed as he casually lied.

The house was an interesting place while also being almost entirely uneventful, which Shane had intended. Petre played his part well; a flashlight once blinked on while Shane had taunted the occupant of the house, leaving Ryan scared out of his mind. There were also a few mysterious footsteps and strange garbled noises. Shane was mainly pleased at the performance right up until Ryan screamed at a phantom hand touching his shoulder. Shane could sense Petre’s smirk, and he had to bite his bottom lip to keep himself from growling. The offense wasn’t enough to warrant any retribution, but the sharp feeling that rose suddenly within Shane goaded him into thinking about it. Possessive. Yes. Possessive.

The crew and the two men ended filming around dinnertime and broke off to eat. Shane and Ryan grabbed food together from a local Chinese carry-out place and went back to the motel they had been staying in the night before to pack their things for the sleepover at the haunted site. Ryan complained about how the room they’d be staying in only had one bed, which actually was something that normally happened on these trips. Haunted sites were never courteous enough to have two beds.

At 8 o’clock, the men found themselves back at the house. Night cameras had been set up in the small bedroom they’d be sleeping in, which had - surprise! – hosted a murder there a few decades ago. Apparently the demon occupying the house had possessed a human living there to decapitate his sleeping wife. Shane actually didn’t know if this was true, or if Petre had been the particular demon to do this, but it didn’t matter to him. And either way, Ryan was still profoundly anxious as he entered the room, his eyes darting back and forth as if scanning for any signs of murderous demons.

Shane spent less time getting dressed for bed than Ryan did. Wearing a ratty t- shirt and striped pajama bottoms, he hopped in bed only to discover that it was way too short for his lanky body. His feet hung off the end, which Shane was used to but hated nonetheless. Sighing, he pulled out his phone to surf Twitter as he waited for Ryan.

Ryan emerged from the tiny bathroom connected to the room a few minutes later. He was wearing a thin white t-shirt and old gym shorts, and he slid into the side of the bed opposite from Shane without saying anything.

Shane took a quick glance over at his bedmate. Though he hated admitting it, Ryan was sort of nice to look at. He was conventionally attractive for a human, with tan skin, dark eyes, and a muscular build, which he worked for regularly. Ryan was a tad shorter than average, but that was alright considering that his cohost was giant. They balanced each other out.

Still, it was annoying that Shane found him attractive. Shane knew he had a soft spot for humans in general, but he often wished he didn’t like them as much as he did. It was his fascination towards humans that had pushed him to come up to the surface in the first place, risking his safety to gain human friendships. And he had indeed made some friends, his best being Ryan Bergara. As much as Shane enjoyed scaring the man, he didn’t actually want to see him harmed.

So when Shane felt Ryan shaking again, he turned back towards him. “Hey man. You okay?”

“Of course not. I fucking hate demons.”

The sentiment slightly stung, but Shane didn’t fault Ryan for it. Humans, especially the religious ones, were taught to hate demons. Most of them didn’t know any better.

“I know.”

“Look, Shane,” Ryan muttered as he turned over to face him, “I fully admit that I’m scared. I’m sleeping in the same spot where some poor woman got decapitated. I don’t entirely want to be here.”

Shane was speechless for a moment. He knew he was getting on Ryan’s nerves with the teasing, and the line that separated friendly quips from bullying was very close. He could hear it in Ryan’s cracked voice.

“Look, Ry,” Shane murmured, only half-thinking, “It’s going to be okay. You’re safe. Nothing is going to harm you.”

“Because demons aren’t real?”

Shane didn’t answer the question. “Nothing is going to harm you,” he replied quietly. And he meant it.

In the distance, Shane could sense Petre laughing at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to create a different sort of demon/angel AU, so I hope you like the concept. Also, next chapter coming soon!


	3. Chapter 3

Ryan didn’t sleep that night. Part of the reason was because his stomach was twisted in knots from his anxiety. The other reason was because he had work to do.

At around 3 am, Ryan slid out of the bed, being extremely careful not to wake Shane.

Of course, it wasn’t difficult to not wake up Shane. The dude had always been a deep sleeper, and the only reason he would stay awake on other trips was because Ryan would bother him continuously. He would probably be very happy to have slept decently well in the morning. Ryan glanced at the snoring form of Shane, with his long limbs spread out haphazardly. At least one of them would have a good night. Admittedly, he was envious of Shane’s nonchalant attitude towards the supernatural and how he never seemed afraid. However, that was neither here nor there. Sighing, Ryan quickly grabbed the few supplies he would need for what he was about to do, and went out towards the parlor room of the house.

Ryan, shivering, stood in the center of the parlor room. Slowly, he took off his thin shirt, revealing his bare chest. In an almost ritualist manner, he placed his right hand on his chest and closed his eyes. “ _Conmostro_ ,” he whispered.

With the word, a burning orange symbol erupted through Ryan’s chest, a simple half-circle with a single vertical slash extending through it, the angelic mark of the 17th defense collective.

“You know what I am. You know why I’m here. If you don’t reveal yourself, I will force you too.”

“Well. I really did think you were human.”

Ryan whipped around, his hand moving to the sword he had brought with him downstairs. His weapon wasn’t much, but it was enchanted and any demon it grazed would find that it stung like a bitch. “I’m not,” he replied to the figure of Petre.

“Got us all fooled, huh? Interesting. Must be special.”

Ryan didn’t know what that meant, but he didn’t think too hard on it. He had to concentrate. Ryan pointed his sword at Petre, trying to control the shaking of his hand. He started muttering in Latin, reciting the words to the banishment ritual, an ancient chant that pushed demons back to Hell.

Petre growled as the chant began to speed up, and lunged at Ryan.

Ryan was not able to deflect Petre in time. Ryan’s head snapped back painfully, hitting the floor, and the demon was quickly upon him. Ryan took a fist to the face before being able to push Petre off him. He stumbled to a standing position, wiping blood off his lip, eyes blurry as he continued the chant. Petre was starting to feel its effects and lunged again, but this time, Ryan was ready. His sword speared Petre in the shoulder, who hissed. Ryan pulled the sword back, preparing to strike again. He could see the form of Petre fading, hanging on to its corporal presence by a thin thread. The banishing ritual was coming to completion.

“Hey Ryan, where’d you go?” a groggy voice called from a nearby room.

Shit.

Ryan grabbed his t-shirt, hurriedly putting it on while finishing the last lines of the chant. He dropped his sword, kicking it under a sofa. Shane couldn’t see. With a final burst of willpower, he yelled the very last lines of chant as Petre vanished.

“Ryan? What are you doing?”

Shane was standing in the doorway with a bewildered look on his face. Ryan could see him looking around the room.

“I…”

“You were yelling in Latin, dude. I didn’t know you knew Latin.”

“I. Well. It’s just a thing…”

Shane approached Ryan, shining his phone flashlight on his face. “What stupid thing were you doing?”

Ryan looked down, suddenly embarrassed for no real reason. Later, when he thought about the incident, he realized that his embarrassment was a good thing. It’s something a human would feel if caught doing something stupid.

“I’ve been researching exorcisms and how to get rid of demons. I stumbled across this banishing ritual thing. I got scared during the night and wanted to try it.” Ryan paused, trying to smile sheepishly. “I thought maybe I would try it, be in control, be less scared.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I hope you feel better now.”

“I do.”

Shane squinted. “You have some blood on your face.”

“Yeah.” Ryan quickly went to wipe the blood off with the back of his hand. “I kinda bumped into a wall on my way in here.”

Ryan was so relieved when Shane appeared to believe this. In fact, a light lit up in Shane’s eyes as he grinned. “You forgot a flashlight, didn’t you?”

“Hey, I was scared. Don’t judge.”

Shane shrugged, grinning. “Come on, let’s try to see if we can get some more sleep.” He put a hand on Ryan’s shoulder as they both went back to the bedroom.

* * *

 

The ride back to Los Angeles was quiet, both men absorbed in their thoughts.

Ryan, for one, was proud of himself. The hunt had been successful, and he had somehow managed to avoid revealing himself to Shane. He was certain that Shane probably had questions, but at least none of them were, “Holy fuck, you’re an angel?” That would be slightly difficult to answer, considering that angels were generally banned from revealing their true identities to humans. Perhaps Shane, as a diehard skeptic, would still believe an excuse, but Ryan knew he couldn’t fall back on that assumption.

Next to him, Shane indeed was thinking over some questions. The encounter with Ryan had been seriously odd. He could definitely understand Ryan getting scared and trying to do something dumb, but the banishing ritual was not well known among humans. It took a whole lot of searching through ancient texts to even find it. Shane did suppose that Ryan would be the type of guy to do his research and find it, but the odds of him being successful with the ritual were very low. Yet, he had been successful. Shane had not been able to sense Petre that morning. Additionally, it was weird that Petre had not fought back against the ritual. Or maybe he had? Shane thought back to the blood on Ryan’s face. Perhaps Ryan had seen Petre and had somehow fought him. Then Ryan would be lying, but at least that made sense. Of course Ryan would lie to Shane about seeing a demon. Shane had never given any indication of believing him before.

Still, the situation was weird, and on that note, deeply unsettling. Shane had been uncomfortable with some of Ryan’s tactics before. Shane was always careful when Ryan had holy water on him, and had spent so much energy trying to cloak his true nature when they had interviewed psychics and priests. The whole banishing ritual was on another level, though. Shane was going to have to really watch his step if Ryan kept trying it.

And finally, there was the disappointment of the territory. Shane would have gladly taken it, but he knew that the banishing ritual would mark it. Any angels in the area would sense the mark and probably go investigate. It was just too dangerous to claim the territory when the angels could link it back to you.

Aw, whatever. Hopefully this was a one-time thing. Shane looked over at his cohost, who gave him a dorky smile and then focused back on the road.

Damnit.

* * *

 

Shane did really wish he could tell Ryan what he was.

The filming for the season was about three fourths of the way through. Normally, Shane would be a bit disappointed when a season came close to ending, knowing that it would take extra effort if he wanted to gain territory while not filming. The show had also been a fantastic cover for amassing more power. However, this season was different. In fact, Shane couldn’t wait to get it over with.

Something was happening. The banishing ritual had not been, very unfortunately, a one-time thing. And it seemed like every time Ryan tried it, he was successful. Shane hadn’t quite caught Ryan performing it again, but there had been several times where Shane would wake up to find the previous demon occupant of the haunted site gone. It only made sense that Ryan was somehow getting rid of them, and a few days ago, Ryan had confessed to Shane that he had been doing them. Shane had acted like his human persona would – skeptic and unimpressed – but the inner part of him was screaming. For whatever reason, a human was being continuously successful in the ritual. And on top of that, although Ryan had also told Shane that he had actually seen demons during the ritual, Shane couldn’t actually tell him to stop. That would be close to admitting that demons were real, which is something that a human Shane would never do.

And on top of that, Shane had the sense that he was being hunted.

The angels that he had avoided so well in Los Angeles were gaining ground on him. Admittedly, Shane had been expecting something like this for a long time, but he hated that it had to be happening now. He was facing multiple threats at once, and Shane wasn’t too comfortable with that. He hadn’t been found out yet, by Ryan or anyone else, been the probability of being revealed was growing larger each day.

However, Ryan, contrary to usual, was gaining confidence at an exponential rate. He wasn’t as jumpy at the sites, and he’d even found the strength to taunt the demons a few times. A part of this was rather endearing, as Shane did like to see Ryan Bergara with some confidence, but – well, the rest was just terrifying. Ryan had been suggesting more and more dangerous sites, and Shane was starting to realize that there was going to be a point where even he couldn’t outpower any of the demons they ran across. Whereas Ryan’s confidence was spiking, Shane’s was very quickly slipping. It was a painful experience, and left Shane in the grip of an emotion he’d tried so hard to avoid.

Loneliness.

And this, above all else, was why Shane dearly wished he could confide in his best friend. He wanted Ryan to understand. He wanted to feel like not everything was becoming hopeless; that someone had his back.

But of course, that wasn’t going to happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will admit that some of this is highly self-indulgent. :P Anyway, I love feedback, so make sure to give me some!


	4. Chapter 4

The last two days of filming had arrived, and Shane’s mind was foggy with fear.

When Ryan had originally suggested the location for the season finale, Shane had frozen in a moment of unbridled terror. He could barely believe that Ryan suggested it. The Ryan Bergara of the past would have never suggested it, but the new, more confident Ryan was different. He was willing to take risks. He was willing to stare a mother demon in the eye without backing down. And this in no way was a good thing.

Lilith was not to be trifled with.

Did Ryan know what he was getting into? He had to know something. The folklore surrounding the site, which happened to be a closed-down barbershop in New York City, was truly horrifying. It was known as the home of a very ancient and immensely powerful demon, and the humans that believed this were entirely correct. Lilith was perhaps one of the most cunning of the demon species. She had lived for millennia, subsisting off the lives of any being that dared cross her path – humans, demons, angels.

Shane knew that walking into her territory was a death wish for absolutely everyone on the crew.

Still, he hadn’t been able to say no. He had frozen, and his lack of an answer was taken for a yes. A few weeks later, on the flight to New York City, he contemplated stepping off the plane and immediately bolting. But he’d looked over at Ryan, and realized that the idiot might go ahead with the filming anyway, and then it’d be entirely Shane’s fault if he died.

And now they were in a taxi, inching nearer and nearer to what could be their doom.

And to top it all off, Ryan was…humming?

“Dude, could you cut that out?”

Ryan stopped, surprised. “What?”

“The humming. It’s annoying.”

Ryan blinked a few times. “You okay, Shane?”

“Well, I…” Shane paused, trying to figure out what to say, “I’m not psyched for this.”

There was silence for a moment.

“I thought you didn’t believe in demons.”

“I don’t.”

“Then why are you nervous? You clearly are.”

“I…Is it too cliché to say that I’ve got a bad feeling about this?”

“Probably.”

There was another stretch of silence.

“Look, Ryan, I don’t want to do this one. I’m…it’s supposedly very haunted, and I don’t want you to…panic, or to hurt yourself…”

“I’m not going to, big guy. I’m okay.” Ryan smiled softly.

Fuck.

“I…” Shane was at a loss. He wasn’t going to stop Ryan unless he actually told him the truth. At this point, it was either that or death at the hands of Lilith.

“Ryan, I need to tell you something –”

At that precise moment, the taxi slowed to a stop in front of the barbershop.

It was too late.

* * *

 

Ryan did realize that he might be over his head with this hunting, but he had been passionate about doing it anyway. He needed to prove himself, and there was no better way to do that than taking down a mother demon.

Of course, this hunt had taken a great deal of careful planning. He’d informed Jen and the rest of the 17th division that he may need backup, so several angels had arrived in the city earlier and were waiting for Ryan’s signal. The camera crew had been told that they would be filming at night, which would give Ryan the entire day to accomplish his task.

But then there was Shane.

At first, Ryan had considered telling Shane the same information given to the camera crew. However, the more he thought about it, the more he wanted Shane to be present. He had wanted so long to tell Shane who he was – both because they were best friends and because he wanted Shane the skeptic to shut up – and now he could just show him. If this hunt with well, it would be Ryan’s greatest triumph, and he could share it with Shane.

Was he being a fool? Well, of course he was. But that was okay.

Ryan hopped out of the taxi that had brought Shane and himself to the barbershop, and stood before the haunted location, taking in its sorry state. On the outside, the barbershop looked normal – well, normal for a building that was dilapidating from years of neglect. There was still paint in the large front window from the times when its advertisement for a half-off haircut would have brought in more patrons. Of course, most of the paint was scratched up, and the sign above the door was scratched up, but any passing human would have just thought that was from the weather. For a moment, Ryan wondered why the city hadn’t tried to tear it down.

Oh yeah. That was why.

As Ryan drew nearer to the building, he felt a deathly chill run through him, setting off every alarm in his body. The cold invaded him, stripping him of any warmth and vigor. For a split second, he felt himself choking, unable to breathe at all. He was a corpse, without life, motionless. Thankfully, it passed almost as quickly as it came, but that answered the question of why no self-preserving human dared to come near this god-forsaken place. Recovering himself, Ryan took a deep breath in, summoning the courage that still stayed with him.

“Ryan? Are you okay?”

Ryan looked back at Shane, who was standing as near to the street as possible. He hadn’t approached the barbershop like Ryan had. Instead, his face spoke of a mix of severe anxiety and concern for his cohort.

“I’m okay. Just got a chill.”

Shane’s eyes darted around nervously. He didn’t say anything. 

“Did you feel one too?” Ryan asked, suddenly curious. Was Shane feeling the same thing? It made sense that he would, but he probably wouldn’t want to admit it…

“I…I’m feeling something, I guess.” Shane paused, a frightening realization starting to dawn on him. “Ryan, where’s the camera crew?”

“I- We’re not filming until tonight. I thought I told you. You must not have been listening-”

“Then why are we here?”

The question was abrupt and Shane’s voice was hard at the edges. For an instant, Ryan thought he saw Shane’s eyes darken.

“I wanted to check out the place first,” Ryan said quietly.

“I don’t want to.” Now Shane’s entire voice was hard.

Ryan’s face was incredulous as he stared back at Shane. “You’ve never refused a place before.”

“There’s a first time for everything.”

“But you don’t believe in demons.”

There was a long pause. Shane looked down, clenching his hand into a shaking fist. Ryan could tell he was afraid, more afraid than he had ever seen his friend be. It was a strange sight.

“I… don’t.”

Ryan didn’t understand. He could understand that Shane, a human, might feel fear at this place. But Shane had been acting like a frightened animal ever since Ryan had pitched the idea to come. It was unusual, and something was definitely wrong with Shane. However, Ryan didn’t have time to think about it. Every moment standing here was a moment wasted. The crew would show up sometime before nightfall, and Ryan’s mission had to be accomplished by then.

“Then why are you – look, nevermind. I’m going to check out the place myself. If you want to come in, just do so. If you don’t, then whatever. I shouldn’t take too much time.” With that, Ryan turned away from Shane, leaving his friend quaking outside. He’d check in on him later. Right now, he had a demon to banish.

* * *

 

Every step after entering the barbershop was complete agony.

The aura of Lilith was crushing, and literally so. It was as if gravity had suddenly decided that Ryan was its enemy and was trying to kill him; Ryan had no choice but to walk slowly, step after step becoming heavier. It also didn’t help that he could barely see. The electricity to the building had been cut a long time ago, so there were no lights, and the thick smog that was Lilith’s aura stopped any light from the outside from seeping in. And of course it was cold, and the building smelled of rot, but the absolute worst aspect about all of this was something different.

Lilith wasn’t even here.

Ryan could barely imagine how worse this place would get as soon as she showed up.

But…why wasn’t she here yet?

Lilith must have known he was coming. She had plenty of followers, and Ryan doubted that a sudden influx of angels into the city would go unnoticed. Even if it had gone unnoticed, she must have felt his presence in her territory as soon as he entered. Demons were always very diligent about watching their territories; a demon’s mark on a territory allowed them to sense intruders, even from a long distance.

Ryan tried to quell the panic that was rising in his stomach. She must know he was here. But she was taking her sweet time…

Ryan nearly screamed as he heard a child’s whisper beside him. “Hello, sweetie.”

She was here now.

 The panicking angel whipped his head around desperately. He couldn’t see her. The smog was fading, which must have been Lilith’s doing, but she was nowhere to be found.

“Ryan Bergara.”

The voice was almost innocent in its childishness, but was bone-chilling nonetheless. Ryan did scream this time.

“Stop playing!”

“Oh, but I’m having fun.” The voice had moved to the end of the room, but Ryan could feel a small hand brush purposely against his leg.

“I said stop!”

“Wow, no respect.” The voice murmured.

Before Ryan could react, he felt a slithering presence wrap around his legs…his knees…his torso…and abruptly, he was yanked down to his knees. He struggled, but the presence was too strong. It was constricting his chest to the point where he could barely breathe.

And then he saw Lilith.

A little girl materialized right in front of him, grinning sweetly. She looked around five or six years old, with two pigtails shooting out of her messy blonde head, and she was wearing a cute little red dress with red ballet slippers to match. She would be an adorable child if she wasn’t one of the most powerful demons in existence. Shaking her head, she put her hand on Ryan’s face, her fingers caressing it gently. Lilith smiled as Ryan’s eyes went wide.

“Poor dear. You really thought you could do this. Not many angels dare to trespass, you know. You must have a tremendous amount of courage to even think of it.”

Lilith’s aura tightened around Ryan. With the smog faded, Ryan could now see what was holding him – dark shadows, creeping out of the ground like tentacles. One was snaking under his shirt, and Lilith gave him a toothy smile.

“Stop,” Ryan whispered desperately.

“You know, I thought I would maybe get a good fight. Some exercise, you know? But my, you are pitifully unprepared.”

The tentacle pushed further under Ryan’s shirt, reaching up to his collar. In a single swift motion, it sliced through the front, revealing his quivering chest. Lilith reached out and put a hand on it.

“ _Conmostro,”_ she giggled.

The angelic symbol pierced through Ryan’s chest, bringing fiery light to the shadowed room. Ryan gasped as he felt his power come back to him, or perhaps more accurately, become uncaged. Lilith’s aura lessened its grip, and the shadowy bonds that had held him slithered back into the ground. Ryan gasped as his lungs filled with air, and his weakened body doubled over.

Lilith laughed as she stood over him, meeting his eyes with a taunting smile. “You must have brought a weapon. I want to see what you can do.”

“What if-” Ryan gasped again as he struggled to stand, “What if I brought friends?”

“Honey, I’m not stupid. I know you brought more of your kind with you. But they aren’t getting in,” Lilith murmured, watching Ryan struggle. A tentacle shot out from the floor, tripping the shaking angel. Ryan fell to the floor, his face hitting the hard tile. Lilith giggled gleefully. “You really underestimated me, didn’t you? You don’t think I could put up a little angel barrier when I wanted? No other angel is entering this place as long as I’m around. It’s just you and me.”

Ryan looked up, his nose bloody from his fall. He couldn’t believe how arrogant, how absolutely idiotic he had been-

“Are you going to fight me, then? Would be a shame to waste all the effort to die without some resistance, don’t you think?”

Ryan managed to stand fully up this time as a toxic mix of desperation and anger coursed through him. “ _Defendere!_ ” He shouted, reaching out to the tiles directly underneath his enemy –

Lilith was too fast, but it had been a close call. Ryan’s sword, summoned from its holding place in Los Angeles, shot out of the ground where Lilith had been standing and into Ryan’s outstretched hand. He had been practicing the surprise move for a while, and although it had not been a successful attack, he was relieved that he had been able to successfully summon the weapon nonetheless.

Lilith scrunched her nose up as she smoothed down her dress. “Impressive. I didn’t think I’d get any action today.” She grinned, and the tentacles of her aura leapt up from the ground, ready to strike. “Let’s see what you can do.”

With that, Ryan was now fighting for his life.

* * *

 

Shane Madej could not believe how stupid he was.

He was sitting on the sidewalk outside the barbershop, hunched over and dazed. He may have well have been inebriated; he most assuredly looked it from the outside, and the inside – well, he wasn’t doing so great on that front either. His thoughts were jumbled, but they were all screaming at him. Why didn’t you say something? Why didn’t you stop this?

Ryan was going to die.

He had to die. No human could walk into Lilith’s lair and come out alive, and especially not one who was trying to banish her. And Shane had just let him walk in alone.

Why?

There were too many feelings, and Shane loathed them all. He loathed the guilt he felt. Any other demon would not have cared; he shouldn’t care if some puny human lived or died. But he did care, and he cared because he felt something for Ryan Begara. Something more than just being possessive of a toy.

Damn.

He couldn’t just let him die, could he?

But if he went in after Ryan, he would surely die too…

But it was his fault that he didn’t stop Ryan…

Why was he even considering this?

Shane swayed back and forth, desperately fighting to reign in his emotions. He was confused, he was angry, and he terrified. He was so so terrified. For his life, for what was going to happen…for Ryan…

Shane could see Ryan in his mind; he could see that goofy, pure smile he’d wear when Shane made him laugh.

Damn. Damn. Damn.

Wobbling, Shane pulled himself up on his feet. He convinced himself to take a step towards the door – then another, then another. Why did he care? Why did he care so much?

After an eternity of labored steps, he found himself staring at the door to the barbershop. Sighing, he pulled it open and stepped inside.

The first thing he saw was Lilith bending over Ryan, holding a captured sword close to his throat.

The next thing he saw was the fiery orange symbol etched in Ryan’s bare chest.

Ryan Bergara, his best friend, was an angel.


	5. Chapter 5

The world might as well have stopped turning.

The scene was almost comical; as Shane entered the building, Lilith and Ryan both froze as they stared back at the newcomer. They were statues, locked forever in a death battle, never quite finishing the mortal blow that would spell doom for the angel on the floor. And this was the way Shane wanted it, for as soon as those statues reanimated, his best friend, angel or not, was going to die.

Ah, fucking hell.

It made sense, didn’t it? The banishing ritual, the sudden interest in demon territories…It was surprising that he hadn’t suspected Ryan before. Well, actually, it wasn’t. He had wanted Ryan to be human – to be someone he didn’t need to run from – to be his friend –

Ryan was his best friend, damnit all.

Shane made his next choice without any more hesitation.

He leapt across the room, using his unusual height to propel him. With one hand, he used Lilith’s moment of straight confusion to knock the sword from her; with the other hand, he grabbed Ryan’s.

“ _Abi in malam_!” Shane screamed.

Shane’s shirt incinerated off him as he felt his power leave him in a nuclear burst of cobalt energy. Ryan somehow understood what was happening, and joined in.

Lilith had no time to defend herself. With a last shrieking cry, she was gone, whisked back to the depths of hell.

Shane collapsed. His symbol, an inverted V, throbbed in his chest. Its dark blue hue dimly pulsed as he gasped desperately for air. He had used up almost all of his power with his attack, and every inch of his body was punishing him for it.

“Shane!” Ryan, who too was beaten up and sorely fatigued, managed to crawl to his friend.  His eyes were wide and bloodshot, and his voice cracked in surprise and the tiniest bit of hesitation. “Are you alright – ”

It only took Ryan a second to recognize that the symbol on Shane’s chest was not that of an angel’s.

“Oh.”

He stared at Shane for a moment, his face losing every bit of natural pigmentation.

“You’re a -”

Shane knew what was happening. And by the demented look in Ryan’s eyes, it was not going to end well.

“You’re a monster!”

The sudden pain that exploded in Shane’s chest was from Ryan’s white-knuckled fist.

* * *

 

It was difficult to comprehend what was happening.

Only a moment ago, Ryan was absolutely certain he was going to be killed by a demon masquerading as a creepy child. But he had been saved…by Shane…who was…

NO.

The rage that had erupted in him was unstoppable. Was it from the previous battle adrenaline, the fear that had come with almost dying? Was it the shock that he had been saved at the last moment? Or was it the years of training had taught him to hate demons, the ones whom he hunted? Or perhaps it was simply the terror of a little boy hiding in a closet?

Did it even matter?

Ryan felt the skin rip off his knuckles as they collided with Shane’s sternum. He relished Shane’s shallow gasp as the powerless demon recoiled against the attack. But when he pulled back, getting ready to strike again, he hesitated as he met Shane’s eyes.

There was betrayal there.

Shane took the split-second opportunity to scramble back out of Ryan’s reach. The movements were drunken and tired, but somehow the demon managed to pull himself up and grab for the nearest object to defend himself – an old broom that was lying on the floor.

“Ryan! I – I just saved your life!”

The angel pulled himself up as well. He scanned the room for his weapon – there. Ryan nearly tripped over his own heavy feet, but he managed to retrieve his sword. The sword shook as he pointed it at Shane.

“I don’t care! You’re one of them!”

Ryan lunged haplessly, and Shane moved out of the way in time. He was pushed up against the counters of the barbershop, hopelessly trying to keep his balance.

“Ryan, please stop! I don’t want to hurt you!”

“You lied to me! You lied to me!” Ryan’s bare chest heaved as he screamed.

“You lied to me too, Ryan!”

Ryan’s next attack landed against Shane’s broom, which immediately snapped in half. The force of the impact knocked Shane into the sharp edges of the counter, and he collapsed to the floor.

Ryan was on top of him in an instant. “I never teased you! I never tried to scare you! I never laughed at you! You’re the liar! It was all an act!”

Shane only tried to defend himself from Ryan’s sword, which he was able to send flying across the room with one of the broken broom pieces. He didn’t defend himself from Ryan’s fists, however. He realized he deserved those blows.

When Ryan paused to look at his victim, Shane choked out a whimper. “I’m sorry, Ry.”

“You should be,” Ryan whispered. Shane suddenly realized that glistening that was pooled under his eyes was more than a trick of the light. “You killed them.”

“Who?”

“My parents!”

There was an awful crack as Shane’s nose splintered under Ryan’s furious blow.

Shane’s hand moved to feel his face. When he pulled it back, it was covered in blood. Still, the pain was not the foremost thing on his mind.

“Your parents were…killed?”

“BY DEMONS!”

There was another blow, this time to the side of Shane’s face. Shane’s vision was swimming as if he were in a dream, a horrible, nightmarish dream – but the tears that were streaming unabashedly down Ryan’s face were very very real.

“I didn’t know.” Shane whispered.

Another blow. “You do now!”

“I didn’t kill them, Ryan.”

There were more blows, of course, but Shane didn’t put up any fight.

“You…” The force of Ryan’s attacks were faltering, each blow becoming more and more hesitant and conflicted. “You’re one of them…”

“We’re not all like that,” Shane whispered. “Some of us just want…friends.”

Ryan pulled back his fist mid-blow. “What?”

“I just…I just…I wanted a friend.”

Shane’s words were choked out, desperate, but oh so truthful. He had nothing to hide now. He had no strength to hide anything, anyway. He could feel himself slipping, his last iotas of energy leaving his dying body.

“I…I did too.”

Ryan had stopped, his face consorted in a mixture of incredulous confusion and painful empathy and understanding. He knew that Shane was dying under him – the pulsatile blue light dim inside of his enemy’s chest. But he also knew something else. As surely as the memories that flooded into his mind – of he and Shane laughing at the office, of their casual jokes and the nights spent texting memes and classless puns, of Shane’s voice as he had reassured Ryan that nothing, nothing would harm him – there was the simple fact that overruled all other judgments.

“You’re a demon,” The angel whispered, “But you’re… you’re my best friend.”

Shane didn’t have time to respond. Instead, he was interrupted by the door to the barbershop screeching open.

“Hellooooo boys,” A certain Jen Ruggirello stood in the doorway, flanked by a squad of angels from the 17th collective. She was grinning. “Well, I think this is my lucky day.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Suggested title for this chapter: "Shit gets real for the spooky bois."
> 
> More coming as soon as I can write it. :P


	6. Chapter 6

“Great job Bergara,” Jen laughed, surveying the room. “But does this awful place have to be so dark?

Jen snapped her fingers and light pierced through the dingy barbershop. For a split second, Ryan was grateful for his improved vision; the next moment, he wasn’t.

God, what had he done?

The barbershop was trashed. Deep gashes traveled through the floor and walls, and dark red blotches stained more area than Ryan had thought possible. There was so much blood, from himself, from the few instances he had made Lilith bleed, and from Shane –

Oh no.

The friend that lied beneath him was a truly horrendous sight. One of Shane’s eyes had swollen shut from bruising, and his bloodied nose tilted at an unnatural angle. His skin was pallid, and the only sign of life – the pulsatile light in his chest – was barely visible. He was gasping for air, his arms quivering, and Ryan knew that he had done this.

Jen didn’t seem to catch the horrified look on Ryan’s face as she walked up to him.  She hovered over the two men, peering downward. “So Bergara,” she grinned, poking at Shane’s chest, “Two for the price of one. Not bad going.” With a whistle, she summoned three more of the 17th collective to her.

Ryan managed to come to his senses, and slid off of Shane. “What are you…what are you going to do? Are you going to –”

 “Kill him? Nah. He’s valuable, see?”

Ryan saw one of the angels behind Jen squint in confusion. Jen apparently sensed it too. “Hey Bergara, wanna tell the rookie why this one’s special?” She murmured offhandedly.

Ryan started. “Uh. Yeah.” He turned towards the rookie, a young boy around the age of 13. Oh, the poor child. “I. Uh. You know how we are marked with a symbol that represents the mission that we are assigned on Earth? Well, uh, demons kinda have it the same, but they have marks based on their powers. And those powers can be sorted into classes, you know, like if they are similar. Sha – the demon…his mark is of that of a Revealer.”

The rookie squinted a little bit more, processing the information. “So he…reveals things?”

“Supernatural things,” Jen cut in, clearly already bored with the explanation. “If a demon is powerful enough, he can even reveal his fellow scum whenever he wants. And cuz this one was strong enough to take down Lilith, I’d bet he’s one of those.”

Ryan froze. “What? I took down Lil – ”

“Not by yourself,” Jen had stooped down to examine Shane. She didn’t look up as she addressed Ryan. “You wouldn’t have been powerful enough.”

“What are you saying? You just let me go in there – ”

“It’s okay, we weren’t going to let you die.”

Fucking hell. It had been a trap all along, and not one for Lilith.

“I – I – ”

“Ryan, do you mind helping me lift Madej? He’s practically a corpse.”

For a moment, all Ryan could do was stare at Jen. His head was spinning, and there she was, casually poking at Shane’s limp body. He didn’t know what to feel, or perhaps he was feeling everything all at once – anger, confusion, guilt. So he just let Jen tell him what to do, and vacantly put his arms under Shane’s shoulders and lifted him into one of the barbershop’s spinning chairs. He watched blankly as Shane was bound to the chair, though there was little need for it: the one eye of Shane’s that remained open was glassy, defeated, and his body slumped forward, unable to even summon enough strength for dignity.

Ryan watched Jen frown as she examined her dying victim. “Hey, Baney, get yourself over here. I don’t need him dying before I get some answers out of him.” The medic of the squad rushed himself over to Jen, and started pulling out various equipment. Jen stepped aside to let him work; Ryan glanced at her. He needed some of his own answers. Jen apparently received the unspoken message, and pulled Ryan to the side, away from the other angels and Shane.

“You’re disturbed, Bergara?”

Ryan blinked. He could feel a sudden jolt of anger course through him, and he let it show on his face. “When were you going to tell me that the target wasn’t Lilith?”

Jen laughed, shrugging. “Look, the higher-ups have known there was a demon fucking around in the Buzzfeed office for a while. We just didn’t have any luck until recently, when we started to suspect that it was probably using Unsolved like we were. So obviously there was the camera crew, but the main suspect was Madej.”

“So? You could have told me. I was close to him – ”

“Exactly.”

Ryan and Jen stared at each other.

“You think I would have hidden Shane? I didn’t even know what he was until now!”

“It was a precaution, okay? And when you suggested Lilith as an assignment, we thought it might be useful to use the situation to our advantage. Because Madej cared for you, he would have to use his powers – ”

“Or I would have died.”

“Well, yes, though we wouldn’t let that actually happen. Obviously.”

Ryan didn’t believe her – obviously. He knew in the back of mind that the 17th division wasn’t always known to be the most ethical in nature, but even that wasn’t important.

Not only had they known that Shane cared for him, they had used that to get Shane to walk into their trap.

Ryan glanced back over at Shane before tearing his eyes quickly away. This was his fault. Ryan had been the bait – oh god, he had done this to Shane, and when the demon died at the hands of the 17th collective, it would be his fault too.

Jen was watching Ryan, staring curiously as he processed the information. For a split second, her brow furrowed as if she was realizing something negative; the next moment, she

 turned back to the medic and yelled over to him.

“Is our guest stable yet?”

Baney glanced back to his leader. “He’s not getting any worse, and he’s a tiny bit better. If anything else happens, he’ll probably start fading again, but he’s okay for now.”

Jen thought for a second before responding. “Well, we should probably work quickly then.” She started to walk over to Shane, and Ryan noticed she was pulling a knife out of small sheath on her hip –

“Wait,” Ryan blurted out.

The whole room became deathly quiet.

“I,” Ryan started to stammer, realizing that every angel in the room was staring at him as if he had lost his mind. Well, he might actually have lost his mind – he didn’t know what had possessed him to interrupt, but he couldn’t stop the next words from jumbling out. “I…You can’t do this now. He’ll die as soon as you touch him…and you won’t get any information out of a dead man.”

Jen was silent for a moment, her eyes sparking in sudden and barely suppressed anger. “So, Bergara, you’re saying he needs to be in a more…healthy state. Do you have any suggestions on how to make that happen?”

Baney cleared his throat, causing both Ryan and Jen to focus on him. “I did everything I could. Bleeding is suppressed, he’s got some fluids back, heartrate is stabilizing – the only thing more I could do is restore some of his energy via power, but that would take an infusion of a compatible power sample. So probably from another demon. But I don’t have that.”

Jen looked back at Ryan. “We can’t do anything more,” she muttered harshly.

“I think,” Ryan whispered, a sudden, strange thought poking through the mists of his mind, “Maybe we can.”

He didn’t know what he was doing. Well, he did know that, but he didn’t know why. He knew the consequences for Shane would be the same – healthy or not, he was going to die – but some veiled urge pushed Ryan to do it all the same. He needed to know.

Ryan approached Shane slowly, gait unsteady, his whole body shaking. He stopped in front of the bound demon, trying desperately not to flinch as Shane’s cloudy eye stared back at him. Ryan knew that Shane was at least a little bit aware; the demon had painstakingly lifted his head to meet Ryan’s gaze. Ryan outstretched a hand to Shane’s chest, brushing it with trembling fingers. He had dreamt about something like this before, had wished it while he was alone, with no one but himself to judge – but never like this. Oh god, never like this.

The two continued to lock eyes as Ryan summoned his power. “Cor ad cor loquitur,” Ryan whispered.

Ryan knew that it was working the moment a surge of his power leapt to meet the little Shane had left. Shane’s power welcomed him in, dancing with the new source of energy as if they had been shared before. It was quite a strange sensation, one that Ryan had never experienced. Shane’s power was so different, so very different, and yet it felt as though the two sources of energy had flown to each other like magnets. After a long moment, Ryan tore himself away, realizing that he had given more of his power than he had originally intended – or perhaps more accurately, more than the other angels would have been comfortable with.

“Well, that explains why it took us so long to find Madej,” Ryan heard Jen murmur behind him. “Equal but opposite. You cloaked each other.”

Ryan ignored the sentiment, staring at Shane instead. Some of Shane’s color was coming back to him, and he was sitting up straight in his bonds. The symbol in his chest was now pulsing with a greater intensity. For a man who had just been beaten almost to death, he looked fairly decent.

Shane returned Ryan’s gaze, and for the first time since the angels had arrived, he spoke.

“You’re a dumbass,” he whispered – but Ryan could see the small upwards tilt of his lips and that devilish spark in his eye that Ryan had known so well.

Ryan managed to return the smile before Jen pushed him to the side, a knife in her hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will involve at least some instances of semi-graphic torture. Please be aware before reading it.


	7. Chapter 7

Shane was not having the best time.

He could remember a few things about what had just happened – but not much. There had been a taxi ride, one that had been agonizing; then he had gotten to a fight with Ryan, who had left him alone on the sidewalk, and then he could remember suddenly being in awe as he had realized something…

Oh, yeah. Ryan was an angel.

The memories after that were blurry, obscured by the intense emotions they accompanied. Shock, fear, acceptance, madness, and then pain. He’d wasted all his energy on Lilith, who had been sent screaming to the depths of the motherland. There was relief, but then he had seen Ryan’s face, and a whole new set of emotions had followed.

Guilt, fatigue, helplessness, sorrow. And again, pain.

He had blacked out for a moment, leaving the vision of Ryan on top of him, his fist pulled back in confused anger, fading into a grateful darkness.

But of course, he would be coaxed awake only to be confronted with an entire squad of the 17th collective.

He had accepted that he would die then. Honestly, he had accepted that the moment that he had jumped in to save Ryan, but now the threat seemed so much more real. Even when Ryan – god, Ryan – had shared some of his power with him, Shane had known this would not save him. If anything, it meant that his death would be slower and more painful.

Still, when he had locked eyes with Ryan during the power transfer, he had been thankful.

This whole situation was unfortunate, wasn’t it?

Shane was suddenly snapped out of his thoughts by sharp voice of Jen Ruggirello. He could see her standing before him; he could see the quick glint of metal in her hand as she brandished her knife; he could see that innocent, happy-go-lucky face of hers that he had appreciated so much at Buzzfeed twist with the addition of a malicious smile.

“Madej.”

“Ruggirello.”

Shane realized how this exchange would go. The hatred of all thing demon that had been poured into Ryan’s head was solidified in Jen’s mind. She was not going to break from the spell of anger and hatred. Her indoctrination was complete, her justification for what she was about to do unbreakable. Trying to coax her out of it would end in failure; all Shane could do now was refuse to give her the satisfaction she desired. There would be no displays of weakness or pain from him.

“You know,” Jen murmured, reading the look on Shane’s face, “It’s awful that it had to be you. I liked you. I won’t enjoy this as much as I could.”

Shane shook his head. “You’ll still enjoy this. But that’s not the point. What do you want?”

Jen laughed in response, the shrill notes echoing throughout the room. “Eager to get started, Madej? Shane? Hm, what do you prefer?

“Whatever name convinces you not to torture me.”

“That depends on if you give me what I want or not,” Jen grinned, pressing her face up into Shane’s. That wasn’t what he was really focused on, however – the cold sensation of metal lightly playing across his chest was the main concern.

“So are you going to let me know what you want?”

He was promptly rewarded for his snark by a sudden burning swipe across his vulnerable skin. Shane swallowed the cry that threatened to escape his throat – no weakness. It was only a surface-level cut, nothing much, but he could see the stripe of red when he looked down.

“You’re a Revealer. We need the names of any other demons in LA, their specific locations, and a promise that you reveal them. We can’t have any escaping.”

“I can’t reveal from this distance. I could barely do it at full strength, let alone this –”

Shane white-knuckled the chair arm as another slashed opened up next to the first. This one was deeper, throbbing, more serious.

“Hurting me isn’t going to help –”

Three more slashes. At this point, Shane was unsuccessfully struggling to control his shaking.

“I’m serious –”

The only parts of Jen that moved were the side of her mouth and the arm that wielded her weapon. Shane managed not to cry out, but only barely. His chest was an absolute mess, and his heart felt like it might explode out of him.

“I know.”

“What?” Shane barely had time to respond before the cursed blade moved from his chest and bit into his cheek.

Jen pulled back, pleased with herself. “I’m not an idiot, Madej. I did have plans to use your power here, but then you were seriously weakened, so that wasn’t going to work. Even after Bergara healed most of you, I figured you’d still struggle. So the plan changed. You tell me names here, we take you somewhere nice and cozy as our prisoner, heal you up, then you get to work.”

“Why not transport me and then torture me? This is quite a public place.”

Jen shrugged. “Not really. Besides, you’ll be under another angel’s care after you back to HQ. I wanted some time with you.”

Jen grinned, and Shane stared back.

He was fucked.

Jen’s next cut was across his jawline. “I want names, Madej.”

Shane’s body trembled; he had given up the fight to control it. “I’m not giving you names.”

This time the knife dug into his arm and twisted. “You will.”

This time, Shane could not control his scream.

The knife twisted deeper. “Names, Madej!”

“NO!”

Jen blinked in surprise at the force of Shane’s response. She stepped back, her brow furrowing in confusion. “Why?”

“I’m…I’m not going to lead any others to you.”

“You’re a demon,” Jen hissed, “You betray each other all the time. Why do you care about what happens to someone besides you?”

It was honestly a valid question. Shane had rarely given thought to the wellbeing of other demons before; in fact, he had killed several over territorial disputes. He had been mainly refusing Jen’s questions out of pure spite – he couldn’t cave to her. But he was weakening, and he knew that soon it would be tempting to sacrifice another’s life to spare himself the pain. Still, there was a quiet part of him that knew he couldn’t talk, no matter what.

Why?

For the first time since the torture had begun, Shane looked at Ryan. The angel was standing some ways off and to the side of the 17th collective squad, his face drained of blood. His lips were forcibly shut, as if he was restraining himself, and his eyes were panicked. For a singular moment, the two locked eyes before Ryan tore his away.

Ryan was in pain.

Shane could feel anger flare up inside of him. He forgot that he was being tortured, and not Ryan, and Shane’s first instinct was to yell at the other angels to stop. It took him a second to realize this was not the case. But Ryan was still in pain. He was in pain…because…

Because he was watching Shane’s agony.

Ryan cared for him.

And Shane cared for Ryan.

If Shane was selfish, if he gave up the names of any innocent demons, then Ryan would be right to think that he was a monster. He had to justify Ryan’s efforts to heal him. He had to justify Ryan not killing him on the spot. He had to prove to Ryan that he wasn’t a monster.

Finally, Shane found himself looking back at Jen. “I may be a demon, but I do actually care.”

Jen looked at Shane, then at Ryan, then back at Shane.

“Okay then,” she murmured.

Shane realized that had been the wrong response.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry it took so long to update! I'll try to be more diligent with the next chapter (which may be the final).


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry it took so long to get this out! Finals really suck. Hopefully you enjoy this last chapter. :)

Ryan Bergara had no idea what to do.

Well, he knew what he couldn’t do. Despite the agony that came from watching Jen have her way with Shane, Ryan had managed to remind himself that acting against his fellow angels would only result in his own demise. He was outnumbered and seriously unmatched, and there was no possible way he could rescue Shane and himself – not in their conditions. Still, he had to keep telling himself this, over and over, as he watched the knife bite into Shane’s defenseless body. He had to bite the inside of his lip – to the point of tasting the metallic hint of blood – to keep himself from screaming at Jen to stop.

What he could do, and what he did do, was watch.

Ryan hated it all. He hated that he couldn’t act, couldn’t stop the torture of Shane Madej. He hated that he couldn’t stop watching – as much as he tried, he couldn’t pull his eyes away. He hated that his courage had left him; he hated that he had led Shane to this ordeal in the first place; and by heaven, he hated that his fellow angels were suddenly acting in a way that was undoubtedly evil. Ryan’s entire world had flipped in an instant; and here he was, at the crux of it all, in love with Shane, his best friend, a demon.

“Bergara. I need you to do something.”

Ryan snapped out of his thoughts instantly, brought back by Jen’s voice. He turned towards her and tried desperately to hide his automatic wince at her sight. Jen must have noticed anyway, because her eyes narrowed ever so slightly as she summoned Ryan to her. He went immediately, listening as Jen brought her mouth close to his ear and whispered.

“I need you to summon something here for me. HQ, interrogation room 5 closet, top shelf.”

For a second, Ryan was confused. It had been a while since he had been in any of the interrogation rooms – in fact, the last time had merely been a tour of the compound after it had undergone post-attack remodeling. The top shelf? That was –

“Cat-o-nine tail.”

Whatever existing color was present in Ryan’s face disappeared.

“You want – that?”

“Yes.”

“I – ” Ryan attempted to scramble, “I, I don’t think I’ll be able to. I don’t have a lot of power left, from the, um, fight.”

Jen simply shook her head. “You have enough, and summoning items is your specialty, so it’s easier for you anyway. No excuses, Bergara.”

Ryan blinked and stepped away from Jen. Did he have a choice?

He looked at Jen, then at the other angels. Some not-so-subtly had their hands on their weapons, just waiting for Jen to give the word to arrest the traitor.

No, he didn’t have a choice.

Ryan swallowed nervously before closing his eyes – it helped him focus on the cursed object he needed to summon. His chest burned as he channeled his power and choked out the appropriate spell.

An instant later, he flinched away from the sudden sensation of the whip in his hand. Ryan tried not to look at it, but he did, and he felt bile rise in his stomach for what he just did and what was about to be done. Trembling, he presented the whip to Jen.

For a moment, Jen merely looked at Ryan’s outstretched arm. Her mouth was pursed in a way that indicated some internal debate, and Ryan couldn’t tell if that was a good or bad thing. He would soon have his answer, however.

Jen was now staring into Ryan’s eyes, and Ryan could see that small spark of decision in hers. She smiled warily, as if that decision was one she didn’t enjoy, and slowly pushed Ryan’s arm back towards him.

“Ryan. I always liked you as a recruit. I wanted you to have a second chance.”

Ryan was taken aback. For the first time that night, she seemed like the old Jen. Personable, approachable, though a bit tired at the moment.

“Thank you?”

“You were doing so well recently. Really. I was so impressed.”

“I…I...I didn’t want to disappoint.”

“Your parents would have been proud. This line of duty meant so much to them, and I could tell it meant a lot to you too.”

Ryan’s stomach dropped. Something was wrong.

“Why are you saying this now?”

Jen sighed. “I don’t want to hurt you. I get that this is difficult for you – you were close to Shane. Hell, I was too. But you need to prove to us where your loyalties lie – that you can still do your duty. He’s the enemy, Ryan.”

“What?”

“I need you to interrogate Shane.”

The handle of the whip burned into Ryan’s hand as his eyes widened. “Jen!”

Jen sighed again. “Make your next choice wisely, Bergara.”

Ryan glanced at the rest of the angel squad. They were tense, waiting for action. If Ryan said no, they would pounce at him the moment the word was out of his mouth. They would treat him as an enemy, a traitor, no better than a demon. And as Ryan had only now realized, the 17th collective really didn’t treat their prisoners well.

Ryan turned slowly to look at Shane. The man looked back at him, sorrowful but accepting. Ryan watched as Shane brought his chin up and then back down – a gentle nod yes.

A sigh pushed out of Ryan’s lips. He nodded at Jen, and began walking towards Shane.

He had seen in Shane’s eyes that the defenseless, tortured man had already forgiven him for what he was about to do.

Ryan could only hope that he would one day be able to forgive himself.

* * *

 

With the help of a few other angels, Shane was yanked from his bonds in the barbershop chair and onto his knees on the hard floor. His ankles were newly bound, allowing him little movement, and his wrists were bound in front of him, which gave Ryan future access to his bare back. Nothing but dignity was holding Shane upright at this point – but that was enough. He had to maintain the minor amount of dignity he had for Ryan.

For Ryan, it was painful to even look at Shane. The man looked so vulnerable, so reserved to his fate – it would be a sin to even think of raising a hand against him. Yet here Ryan was, circling Shane, building up the strength to flog him. After a silent minute, Ryan stopped behind Shane. His hand shook as he brought the whip up, ready.

“I don’t want to do this,” he whispered. “Shane. Please. Give Jen a name.”

Ryan watched as Shane sighed tiredly. “Ryan, you know I can’t do that. But…it’s okay.”

Ryan glanced at Jen, who nodded. The signal.

His jaw clenched painfully, Ryan brought the whip down on Shane’s bare back. He recoiled as he watched Shane’s body shudder in pain, and then reveal the red stripes that Ryan had painted there. Shane hadn’t made a sound – probably for Ryan’s sake – but the vision of Shane’s silent pain was enough to bring tears to Ryan’s eyes.

“Shane. The names. Or any name.”

Shane didn’t respond. There was nothing to say.

Trembling, Ryan watched Jen nod. The whip came down again.

It went on like that for an excruciating eternity. Shane refused to talk, and Ryan was soundlessly ordered to inflict pain upon him for it. In fact, the entire ordeal was eerily quiet - Shane had managed to hold back any cries of pain, Jen had not spoken since the interrogation had begun, and the rest of the angels were watching without comment. Now, if Ryan were paying attention to anything besides his turmoil-wrecked heart, he’d realize how tense the room was. He’d realize how many of the angels were uncomfortable, how even they recognized that this wasn’t right; he’d realize how Jen’s pursed lips were indicative of her inner debate, and that she had disliked forcing Ryan into this situation; and he’d realize how Shane’s shudders were from crying, not the scorn of the whip. But most importantly, Ryan would realize that this interrogation wasn’t about proving his loyalty. It was about hurting Shane by hurting _him._

Ryan did realize this when he was ordered to cease and step to the side, allowing him to get a good look at Shane and hear a snippet of Jen’s and his hissed exchange.

“You’re only hurting him, you know. When he ends up trapped in a tangle of his own conflicting feelings, confused and afraid, it’ll be your fault. Is the safety of your demon friends really worth the sanity of Ryan Bergara?”

Ryan caught a glimpse of Shane’s face as the demon lifted his head to stare into the eyes of Jen. His face was wet from tears and it seemed to sag from fatigue, but his eyes were angry.

“No. But I have my reasons.”

“What are those?”

“I won’t be a monster.” With that, Shane turned to stare past Jen and at Ryan. “I’m not a monster,” he whispered.

Jen scowled and beckoned Ryan to her with a wave of her hand. “You can resume now.”

Ryan didn’t move.

It took Jen a half-second to understand what was happening. “That’s an order, Bergara.”

Ryan felt his head shake. He seemed disconnected from his own body, numb. His mind knew what had to happen, but his body was weak, hence the necessary disconnect.

Shane Madej was not a monster.

Neither was he.

Ryan could feel the whip in his hand, its burning presence breaking through the fog in his mind. The numbness was fading, just a little bit; he could now sense the desperate pounding of his heart and the trails that his tears had left down his cheeks. In a rush of sudden disgust, he dropped the whip.

“I can’t do this.”

There, he had said it. It felt so good to have those words in the open instead of ricocheting around in his head. It was if he needed to hear himself say the words to find the courage to believe them – like purposefully getting knocked off a cliff to convince yourself that jumping was a sane idea. This entire scenario was strange and made almost no sense, but Ryan had found his courage nonetheless. He stared back at Jen, a challenge.

Jen looked away. It took her longer than expected to give the order – and when she did, it was edged with tired regret. “Seize him.”

When a few members of the angelic squad came for him, Ryan didn’t resist. He let them take his sword away, bind him, and then force him to his knees. Ryan was now nearly eye-to-eye with Shane, and he forced a small smile when he saw the shocked expression on the demon’s face.

“I’m sorry, Ryan. I didn’t truly expect you to side with the enemy, not with your history.” Jen sighed as she went and picked up the whip from where it had fallen. “See, I have a similar story to you, really. I know you think I’m being a monster, but I understand there’s a line between good and evil in this world. And there is no price too high to be paid for snuffing out evil.”

Jen walked over to Shane. She grabbed his face with her free hand, yanking it upwards, examining her enemy.

“I regret whatever actions will have to be taken against Ryan Bergara,” she addressed Shane, growling. “But I will not regret the harm that has come to you.”

Jen raised the whip.

Later, when asked where on Earth his next thought came from, Ryan would answer that he had no idea. This was a lie, actually; but it seemed better than admitting that he was regretting never getting to visit Shane’s supposed family home in Illinois. He had always joked about going there, never quite revealing that his desire came from meeting Shane’s family, which is something a boyfriend or girlfriend would do. And then from that thought, something remarkable: the hilarious acceptance that perhaps it was for the best, because he had heard that Illinois was hell.

Hell?

Hell.

Shane’s actual home.

Ho boy.

Ryan started the chant low, hoping desperately that none of the angels would hear him, but above all, that this plan would work. The verses would have to more focused, his energy stronger. It took extra work to banish two people.

Jen brought the whip down across Shane’s chest, reopening knife wounds that had started to heal. This time, Shane let himself scream. The noise was enough to distract most of the angels from Ryan’s hurried chant, but not all of him. The rookie of the group, who was also the youngest at age 13, noticed. Ryan nearly stopped the chant in fear, but the young boy simply shook his head. Then, very deliberately, the rookie turned away from Ryan as if he hadn’t heard a thing.

Not all angels were bad after all.

Ryan finished his chant before Jen’s next blow.

* * *

 

Ryan found himself on his side, staring at perfectly manicured grass.

“Holy fuck, what the –” A startled voice yelled from behind Ryan. The angel struggled in his bonds – of course they would be transported as well – and hoped that whoever was the speaker would be in shock long enough to give him time to escape. Ryan figured that although Shane was friendly, most of the other occupants of Hell probably wouldn’t take kindly to an angel waltzing into their home.

He wasn’t fast enough, however, and stop struggling as a shadow loomed over him, followed by a familiar face with a towering sweep of black coifed hair –

“…Eugene?”

“Ryan?”

Eugene Lee Yang peered down at the form of Ryan Bergara. “Hot damn. You were really the last person I expected here.” With that, Eugene squatted down to Ryan’s level, pulled out a knife, and make quick work of Ryan’s bonds.

Ryan staggered upwards, helped to a shaky standing position by Eugene. He started immediately looking around – “Shane’s supposed to be here – ”

“Over there.” Eugene pointed to a location a few yards away. Both of the men ran over, Eugene then working to release Shane from his bonds and Ryan trying not to wince at the sight of the demon’s many wounds. Shane was weak but conscious, so he was able to sheepishly grin as he caught Eugene’s eye.

“I suppose you weren’t expecting visitors, huh?”

“Well, at least not ones as ugly as you, Madej.” Eugene pulled Shane to a standing position and supported him.

“I thought you had work to do in LA. What the fuck are you doing here already?

“The angels have been getting restless for the last few weeks, so I took an early vacation. Speaking of which – you don’t look so good.”

Ryan, who had been watching the exchange, butted in. “We were set up by the 17th collective. Well. I wasn’t really set up, Shane was – ”

“I can see that. Look, you can’t stay here too long, but I can get Shane and you patched up a bit. I’ve got some first age kits and other junk like that in the house.”

For the first time since he had landed in Hell, Ryan took full stock of his surroundings. He was standing on the beautiful front yard of a large, suburban house. In fact, when he looked out into the distance, all he could see were rows and rows of the same style of house. There was a place in the distance, too, where the neighborhood seemed to curve upward; and when Ryan looked completely up, he could see upside-down houses miles overhead. He was in a hollowed-out sphere, with the only light coming from a small growing ball – a miniature sun, almost – situated directly in the center.

Eugene caught him looking around. “Hell’s not what you thought?”

“No, not…really.”

Eugene laughed. “Come on, let’s get inside. Then we can talk.”

With Eugene supporting Shane, the three walked into the house.

It took a bit for Eugene to get Shane and Ryan patched up.

Ryan was the easy patient. Although he had been fighting Lilith, he had managed to stay relatively free of cut wounds. There were bruises here and there, but nothing too serious. Honestly, it was rather impressive that Ryan hadn’t been more injured, or at least that’s what Eugene said.

Shane, on the other hand, was much more difficult. Eugene had managed to transfer some power to him to help self-heal the wounds, but that was not entirely sufficient. Ryan sat on Eugene’s dining room table and watched as Eugene cleaned out Shane’s cuts with peroxide and bound most of his torso with salve and gauze.

“You know, you really do look awful,” Eugene addressed Shane before swabbing a cut on his cheek with peroxide. “The angels really fucked you up.”

“Yeah, it was only a matter of time before my luck ran out.”

“It seemed like you found it again pretty quickly, though,” Eugene grinned, nodding towards Ryan.

Ryan watched as Shane formed a small smile. “I guess you’re right.”

Eugene harrumphed. “I shouldn’t have said anything. You two are disgusting.”

“Anyway,” Ryan started, trying to change the awkward conversation, “You’re a demon.”

“Thank you, Captain Obvious,” Eugene snorted. “What gave it away?”

“I..I just meant that I didn’t really think of you as the demon type.”

It was Shane’s turn to snort. “Really?”

“Fine, okay. He’s the type. But I knew you both for so long – I didn’t realize how many demons I knew.”

“Well, that’s for a reason. It helps avoid certain fiascos from happening, as demonstrated by your experience. Very few angels can be trusted with that knowledge.” Eugene cleared his throat. “Anyway, I’m going to go find shirts for you. I’m sick of being the one here with the shirt on. It usually doesn’t happen that way.” With that, Eugene left the room, leaving Ryan and Shane alone.

A moment of silence passed before Ryan gathered up the courage to speak. “I guess it was lucky that we ended up at Eugene’s house, wasn’t it?”

“I realized you were doing the banishing ritual at the last second and tried to help focus it. I figured Eugene would forgive me if I broke into his house if it meant our survival. He owed me, anyway.”

“Wait, you didn’t think he’d be home?”

“Yup.”

Ryan laughed. It felt so good to laugh. It was a relief from the pain, the recent memories, and the nagging guilt that was overwhelming his mind. Ryan took a deep breath before allowing the words he needed to say tumble out.

“Shane, I’m so sorry.”

Shane sighed. “It’s not your fault. Besides, I deserved it. I’ve been an asshole to you.”

“You deserved a swift kick in the pants, not what happened.”

“I’m glad you think that, I guess.”

Ryan looked over at his friend. Shane was looking worlds better than he had been, but Ryan’s heart still faltered at the sight of him. It would take a long time for Shane’s bodily wounds to heal. It would take even longer for both of their internal wounds to do so.

“The 17th collective will hunt us. I don’t know if we’ll ever be safe.”

“You didn’t need to betray the other angels for me, you know. Now you’ll have to stay in hiding too. You could have gone back to your own life.”

Ryan looked down. “No,” he whispered, “I couldn’t have.”

Eugene walked in at that moment, interrupting any further explanation of Ryan’s statement. He was carrying two bundled up shirts. “Here,” he muttered, tossing one to each of the men, “I think these should fit.”

Shane immediately shrugged his shirt on, which happened to a grey t-shirt with the names of each of the Try Guys plastered in front. Obviously Eugene would give him merch from a competing Buzzfeed show – Shane didn’t know why he expected anything else.  

Ryan took a moment to slip his on his shirt, which was slightly tight but otherwise okay. Shane covered his mouth to keep from laughing at the monstrosity which was a cat in outer space surrounded by pizza. “You look great, Ryan.”

Ryan looked down at his shirt. “Seriously, Eugene? Though on second thought, this looks pretty familiar.”

Shane laughed. “Yeah, it looks like something Zach Kornfeld would wear.”

 “Holy shit, this is Zach’s shirt!” Ryan exclaimed. “Wait a moment. Why do you have Zach’s shirt, Eugene?”

Both Shane and Ryan watched as Eugene’s face flushed.

“Are you dating Zach?” Shane asked, a foolish smile playing over his face. “Damn, you are dating him!”

Eugene growled. “Yes, and I hate the stupid shirt. So you’re going to lose it for me.”

“Eugene’s dating Zach!” Shane sang, laughing.

“Wait. Wait. Wait. Zach’s a medic for the 17th collective. He’s an angel.”

“It’s 2018, Ryan. Inter-species relationships are a thing,” Eugene had gone from flushed to smirking in less than a second.

Shane had also quickly changed demeanor. “You mean to tell me that you were off dating an angel while I was spending my entire time avoiding them? And then having the shit beaten out of me by them?”

“Pretty much, yup.”

“You’re an asshole,” Shane muttered.

“Hey, I said very few angels could be trusted, which means some can be. Besides, Zach’s been trying to keep the 17th off both our trails for a while. He was successful until recently.”

“Why didn’t Zach tell me and let me help?” Ryan asked.

Eugene raised an eyebrow. “We didn’t know if you were trustworthy. The collective seemed to have your complete loyalty.”

Ryan sighed. “I guess that makes sense.” There was a moment of silence before anyone said anything else. When the awkward silence was broken, it was by Eugene.

“I’m glad to help you guys out, but I can’t let you stay. I have enough trouble hiding Zach when he comes over, so I don’t need another angel in here. And Shane – not everyone’s happy with you at the moment. So no hard feelings, but you’ll have to find another place.”

Shane nodded. “I figured.”

“I did take the liberty of packing some food and more medical supplies for you, though. It’s in a pack in the kitchen. You can grab it on the way out.”

“Damn. You do have a heart, Eugene.”

“Don’t push it, Madej,” Eugene said, shaking his head. “Get out before I change my mind.” Ryan and Shane both caught his small smile, however.

With that, Shane and Ryan left.

* * *

 

“You have the ability to summon stuff, right?”

It’s always a bit awkward to say goodbye to someone and then not really leave their vicinity, and that’s how Ryan and Shane felt standing on the road outside of Eugene’s house.

“Yeah, why?”

“A vehicle could help right about now.”

“Oh yeah,” Ryan grinned. “That makes sense. What do you want?”

“Literally anything that works and isn’t one of those tiny-ass eco cars.”

“What do you have against eco cars? Oh. It’s the fact that you’re a fucking giant, right?”

“Shut up and summon something.”

Ryan laughed, focused his power, and summoned…a motorcycle. “Cool, huh?”

Shane shook his head, but immediately hopped on the backseat of the bike. “You couldn’t have summoned this on top of Jen’s head earlier?”

Ryan jumped into the front seat. “That’s a bit extreme, don’t ya think?”

“Transporting yourself to Hell is a bit extreme.”

“Fair enough.” Ryan started the engine. “Where to?”

“I have family here. They’ll probably let us stay for a few days, at least until word gets around that I pissed Lilith off. Then they’ll kick me out, but we can figure it out from there. I’ll give you directions.”

“Good enough for me. I always wanted to meet your family.”

With that, Ryan and Shane started off on their new journey as fugitives. They both knew it would only get harder from there – but that was okay. In fact, as Shane gripped Ryan’s sides, a simple touch that he had hoped for so long, he felt more than okay.

Like light and darkness, day and night, Ryan and Shane balanced each other out.

It would be alright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Annnd that's it, folks! I'm thinking about *maybe* doing a epilogue/'one year later' sort of thing for this story, but I have to think about it. It'll be smut if I do write it XD. Also, please please please comment and let me know what I did well or what I did poorly with this story! I like hearing constructive criticism from readers. :)

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed! Let me know what you think. Next chapter coming soon. :)


End file.
